


Denotative vs Connotative

by Pocketsized_Kanaya_Maryam



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Character death is just a mention and canon but still, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:11:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9360989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pocketsized_Kanaya_Maryam/pseuds/Pocketsized_Kanaya_Maryam
Summary: "No violence between partners.""He's not a partner; he's an idiot!"Verbiage is important. Especially given not everything you say complies with the technical definition.In a denotative, context, "Partner" refers to an associate. In a connotative one, however,  it's more... personal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, wanna cry over gay mercenaries with me? Cool. Thanks for joining. Blame @Mercs for this. They started this.

Felix threw his rifle on the console. He did it so haphazardly. He didn’t care. Anger, frustration, discontent, and a hint of jealousy filled his veins. Handling things with caution and care is out of the question. Not when this shit was happening.

“What the hell?” he asked. He sounded so betrayed. So pissed.

Locus, on the other hand, was acting as he typically did. Reserved. Quiet. Repressing his emotions (in a way that made him seem like even more of an asshole, too). “What?” he asked. Hell, with his tone, it was less, “What are you talking about?” and more, “What is it now, Felix? What could you _possibly_ have to say now? Do I want to listen? No. Do I have a choice? No.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Felix’s voice did him absolutely no favors in hiding his emotions. He was very clearly ready to punch someone.

“Elaborate.” So talkative as always, Locus. One has to consider, however, that when one’s partner talks as much as Felix does, his actions make sense. It’s not like he had much time that Felix wasn’t speaking in the first place. Could you blame him?

Felix threw his hands about, gesticulating as he always did when he spoke. “ _You_ ,” he started as he pointed his hand accusingly. “Called _that fish fucker_ ‘partner.’ He is _not_ our fucking partner.”

“Felix,” Locus sighed. “For the sake of this job, he _is_ our partner.” This wasn’t debatable. It was just fact.

Felix disagreed.

“He absolutely is fucking not!” He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. “He is _nothing_ to us.” Each word coming out of his mouth dripped like poison, aimed to sting, lingered in the air like the smell of death, getting worse by the second.

“Felix, we are working on the same job. We have the same goals. For all intents and purposes, he _is_ our partner,” Locus spoke, barely showing his emotion. It was simple. It was short. It was something Felix had to argue. Goddamn it.

“Locus, that _piece of shit fish stick_ is not our fucking partner,” Felix spat. “ _Mason_ ,” he said, speaking the name for the first time in years, “was our fucking partner.” The words came out like a hiss. It was as if saying them physically hurt him. But no, it only hurt emotionally, not that that was really any better.

“Was,” Locus reiterated. “Things change,” he added. To any stranger, it would seem he didn’t care. That was the exact opposite of the actuality of the situation. He cared _too_ much. If you ignore your pain, you don’t feel it. Locus did not want to feel the absolute agony and guilt that thinking about the aforementioned man would bring. It's hard to not feel that way after leaving someone you cared so much about  to take a job he morally found reprehensible.

“Okay, fine, sure,” Felix started. Sometimes, it seemed he talked entirely for the purpose of hearing his own voice. “ _Maybe_ we left him behind. _Maybe_ –” Locus cut him off.

“ _We_ ,” Locus began, making sure to draw attention to the first word. “Did _not_ leave _him_ behind.” Locus shifted his gaze so that he wouldn’t even be looking in Felix’s general direction. “He felt that this wasn’t for him,” his voice was soft, tender even. “He chose to take a break until we were done.” He paused for a moment before going back to looking at the other soldier.

“Regardless,” Felix spat. “That doesn’t make him suddenly not our partner anymore.”

Locus sighed. “In terms of our job, it does.” Why the hell couldn’t he understand?

“Who gives a damn about the fucking job?” Locus knew the question was meant to be rhetorical. He knew Felix cared about the money, being able to kill with no repercussions, and the position of power it gave him over everyone else on that planet. As such, Felix cared about the job. He knew. And he also knew how much it hurt to talk about Mason. It hurt _him_ too. “You know he was more than that– is more than that to us.” Felix’s words came out nostalgic and somber. He let himself smile. It was bittersweet. It wasn’t often Felix let out genuine smiles. Typically they were sadistic, twisted smiles, but this… this was bonafide happiness.

Locus took a breath. “It doesn’t change the situation. He’s not here, he’s not our partner in terms of any jobs right now. Sharkface is here. He’s working with us. He’s our partner now.” Felix’s smile disappeared. It turned into a scowl.

“Fuck that aquatic asshole.” His helmet did a good job of conveying the glare that he was giving underneath. “Him being here now does _not_ make him a replacement for Mace. He is _nothing_ like Mason. He isn’t worth _shit_ . Stop putting him with us.”

“I’m not replacing Mason–”

“Well it doesn’t fucking seem like it. You’re going around throwing the word ‘partner’ like it doesn’t fucking mean anything.”

“I’m using it how it was intended, Felix.”

“Don’t fucking ‘Felix’ me. No one’s around. Use my fucking name, Sam.” It wasn’t often they threw code names to the side (Locus’s insistence, of course). Hearing his real name was a shock. But what _is_ a ‘real name?’ He had gone so far from the person he was before this armor. Could he bear the same name he once held as if it were still him, or was he too far gone? The same could be said for Felix.

“You never know who could be hiding.” Why couldn’t Felix just look at things from a non-emotional perspective?

“God could you _stop_ with the paranoia for five goddamn minutes?” He knew the answer. You can’t know someone for over a decade without learning the answer.

“I’m not replacing Mason.” Locus repeated, going back to his original point and ignoring Felix completely. “I’m making the best out of what we have.”

“What we have,” Felix let out a sarcastic laugh. “Is a fucking piece of shit fish who wants nothing more than revenge.”

“Isn’t that a better motivator than money?”

“That is _not_ what this is about, Sam.”

“Code names,” came out of his mouth faster than he could stop himself. Old habits. He sighed. “I’m not saying Sharkface is anything like Mason, or means anything even close to what Mason means to me– to us, but he’s here now. He’s working with us. He’s our partner for now. When the job is over, we can go back to Mason.”

“By calling him partner you fucking are. He’s not our partner. He’s our coworker. Nothing more.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Oh gee, I don’t fucking know,” Felix quipped. “Maybe the fucking sense of importance? How fucking close we are? Or maybe, I dunno, the whole ‘love’ thing? That do anything for you you fucking piece of shit?” Felix very rarely used the word love unless he was drunk (He was both an affectionate drunk as well as one who was willing to fight anyone and everyone.). This was really getting to him.

Locus thought for a moment. “Is it really that important to you what word I use?”

“Would we be fucking having this argument otherwise?”

“Given your argumentative nature…”Felix glared at him again. “If I stop using that word, will you be happy?”

“Fucking ecstatic,” he hissed.

“Fine. I won’t use it anymore when referring to him.”

“Good.”

Silence lingered. Not a common occurrence when Felix was around. They were both standing in the control room, thinking about what they had said. This, in contrast to the silence, was a normal occurrence for Locus but for Felix… His impulsive nature made it seem he was never quite reflective.

They both missed Mason. This much was clear. How long would it be before they saw him again? The answer, they would both find, would be discovered sooner than they thought.

 

Felix was glad when Sharkface died. He wasn’t quiet about it either.

 

When it was Felix’s turn to be the one holding the grim reaper’s hand, however, his longing for seeing Mason Wu hurt him more than it ever had. Being sentimental and in love with someone you would never see again was a bitch. At least Mason can remember his last words. “Sure thing, Mace. I still don’t get why you said no, but of course. No one’s gonna get the best of me. I’ll see you when the job’s done. Goodbye.”


End file.
